Page 162 - My FlipBook

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on a variety of rich food, are soon apt to have bad teeth, and
grow up with their teeth, in a great many cases, as bad or
worse than those of their masters' children. It is generally
thought that our coloured population, have very fine and
The teeth of the negro are usually extremely
healthy teeth.
well developed, and if by exercise and simple diet they
preserve their systems in a healthy condition, free from feb-
rile symptoms and a vitiated state of the secretions, these
organs will be preserved in the greatest perfection. But, on
the contrary, if their diet is gross, and they indulge in indo-
lent or luxurious habits, and especially neglect cleaning the
teeth, they in a vast many instances become diseased, and
are often lost at an early age. I find that I am extending
this subject much farther than I at first intended, but I con-
sider that a correct knowledge of the manner in which ca-
ries takes place, and its predisposing and exciting causes,
forms a key to Dental Surgery, and without which, all our
conceptions of the diseases of the teeth, will be confused
and unsatisfactory. I beg permission of the reader to re-
capitulate for one moment, the principal points upon which
we have insisted in this section.

External Caries.

Proximate Cause.—Inflammation of the bony part of the
tooth terminating in mortification, the enamel being previous-
ly removed by chemical or mechanical agents, or if it takes
place where there is no enamel, then the gum removed by
disease or mechanical agents.
Exciting Causes.—A vitiated state of the liquor of the
mouth caused by vitiated secretions—a diseased state of the
gums and soft parts— by caries of the teeth—by dead teeth
and stumps— by a febrile state of the system—by the ex-
hibition of mercurial medicines—by bad artificial teeth—
by